


I Won't Let You Go

by inkahgase



Category: GOT7
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love Triangles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 22:35:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkahgase/pseuds/inkahgase





	I Won't Let You Go

You met Mark when you first joined the company as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer. His desk was located right across from yours — as he was the Executive Assistant to the Chief Information Officer and he was also in charge of getting you trained up and up to speed.

Mark’s gentle and friendly nature meant that your transition to this new company had gone well and you became fast friends. Because both of your bosses had similar schedules, you were almost always stuck at the hip during meetings, lunchtimes and overtimes. Sometimes you even attended interstate conferences together. The office had dubbed you both as work husband and wife.

It didn’t take long until you were also best friends outside of work and you really you couldn’t have asked for anything more — well, except to be his _girlfriend_. With how close the two of you were and the amount of time you spent together, it was inevitable for feelings to arise. Certainly, from your end. He was the epitome of boyfriend material and you would be blind not to see him in that light.

A lot of your friends often wondered why you and Mark hadn’t gotten together yet. You always put it down to the fact that the two of you were far too busy and that there was no way he would feel the same. Which led to your friends letting you think that you were stuck in the _friendzone_. This is why you had never told him how you felt.

Alas, you didn’t know that he felt the same about you too.

* * *

“What?” Your voice falters as you ask. “You’re leaving me?”

Mark sighs before offering you a smile and nudging your shoulder with his. “I’m not leaving you. I’ll still be in the same building.”

“We are going to be divided by a whole floor. You’re definitely leaving me.”

“Stop being dramatic,” he laughs. “Our schedule will still be almost identical which means we can still have lunch and attend meetings together. Plus, we’re friends outside of work. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are,” you scoff. “Do you really have to go?”

“Boss lady was promoted. She asked me to come with her, offering me a ton load of benefits. I had to take it.”

You did hear that Mark’s boss had been promoted to become the new Chief Operating Officer, you just didn’t know that she would take Mark with her.

“I can’t believe we’re getting divorced,” you fake cry. “And I’m going to be all alone here.”

Mark laughs again before grabbing you by the shoulders and turning you to face him. “Will you relax? We’re not getting divorced and you won’t be alone. Jinyoung will be here with you.”

Of course you know who Jinyoung is. He is from the IT department and often worked with Mark. You just didn’t know if it would be the same as having Mark there.

“Stop worrying,” Mark reassures you as he wraps his arms around you. “He’s a great guy and I trained him myself. I’m just upstairs and everything will be fine. Don’t you trust me?”

“You know that I do.”

“Good. Ice cream time to celebrate?”

You wrap your hand around his to drag him out of the building. “You’re buying.”

* * *

You sit on your couch, flicking through the channels on the TV as you wait for Mark to arrive. You didn’t have plans to hang out tonight as you were supposed to be out with your girls, but you needed to speak with him so you had asked him to come.

Mark walks in without knocking, since he knows your passcode, and settles down on the couch next to you, kissing you on the cheek as he always does. “This better be some life threatening emergency. Aia’s been biting my head off about you cancelling tonight and she even—”

“Jinyoung asked me out,” you interrupt him and he shuts up.

“I didn’t even realise you and Jinyoung were a thing?” Mark asks hesitantly, even though he knew this day was coming. He just didn’t expect it this soon. He watched things blossom between you and Jinyoung and was powerless to stop it.

He wouldn’t, even if he could. Mark watched your interaction with Jinyoung carefully since day one and could see how happy he made you. He didn’t think you ever looked at him like that. That’s when he knew that he most probably missed his chance.

Mark’s friends had been trying to get him to confess his feelings for you for the longest time. He decided not to, thinking that he didn’t want to ruin the friendship, as it was more important. Now he wishes he could kick his past self and convince himself to go and get his girl.

“We’re not,” you sigh. “Well, at least I didn’t think we were. I didn’t see this coming.”

“So, what did you say?”

“I told him I’d think about it.”

Mark is scared to ask but he does anyway, “Well, how do you feel about it?”

You look at Mark before looking back at the TV as you think about his question. _How do you feel about it?_ Jinyoung is a great guy. You’d be lying to yourself if you said that you’ve never thought about him. He is incredibly sweet, caring, intelligent and good looking. What’s not to like?

_He’s not Mark_, your brain answers for you. Rightfully so, he isn’t Mark, not by a long shot. But, it doesn’t mean he’s not enough. It doesn’t mean he can’t be better. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give him a chance, especially since you know that you would never have a chance with Mark, at least that’s what you think anyway.

“What do you think I should do?” You throw the question back at Mark, trying to gauge his reaction. Unfortunately for you, he hides them very well.

Mark sighs, he can’t believe he is about to do this, but your happiness will always come first. “I think you should give him a chance.”

“You do?”

“I do,” he gifts you a small smile. “You look happy with him. It couldn’t hurt to see if it could blossom to something more.”

“Yes, it could.”

“When did you ever let that stop you?” Mark laughs. “Just go for it. I’ll be right here to catch you if needed.”

You text Jinyoung, telling him that you’d go on the date with him, before spending the rest of the night cuddled into Mark. You hope you’ve done the right thing.

* * *

You find yourself outside of Mark’s apartment, waiting for him to come home. You haven’t heard from him in three weeks. _Three whole weeks_. Not since you started dating Jinyoung.

_During the first week, you knew he was put in charge of a very important project, so you figured he had been busy. After numerous unanswered calls and messages however, you knew something was wrong. Mark had never not returned your calls and messages, no matter how busy he was. You knew he was avoiding you._

_The past week cemented it for you. You knew the project had finished so you made sure to go up to his floor and ask him to have lunch with you. Just when you were about to enter the lift, you heard his infamous laugh from somewhere behind you._

_There he was, in all his glory, laughing at something your coworker Jackson had said. You met eyes with Mark briefly and you smiled, but he turned his attention back to Jackson without acknowledging you. They then made their way towards the cafeteria, leaving you standing there awkwardly._

_You cried to Jinyoung that night and he comforted you as much as he could, before he dropped a bombshell on your lap._

_“I figured this would happen,” Jinyoung sighed as he rubbed soothing circles on your back._

_“What are you talking about?” You asked as you pulled away._

_“Come on, babe. It’s not like you didn’t know.”_

_“Didn’t know what?” You pressed him again, annoyance lacing your tone._

_Jinyoung took a breath, before looking you straight in the eye, “Mark has feelings for you. That is why he’s avoiding you.”_

_“What?” You laughed incredulously. “Mark doesn’t have feelings for me.”_

_“Yes, he does,” Jinyoung rubbed his face in exasperation. “Everyone knows it. How could you not?”_

_“Then, why would he tell me to date you?”_

_“I’d like to ask him that myself.”_

_You and Jinyoung sat silently for awhile before you spoke, “I have to go and see him.”_

_“Will you come back?” He asked uncertain and you asked why he thought you wouldn’t. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. You have feelings for him. Or used to. I’ve always known.”_

_“I’ll come back,” you assured Jinyoung. He’s not sure if he believed you._

That leads you to today. You pulled a favour with Mark’s boss and asked what time he would be finishing today so that you could be at his place to meet him. You also checked with Jackson to find out if they made plans and he told you that Mark would be home tonight.

_And speak of the devil_.

“What are you doing here?” Mark asks when he spots you.

“He speaks,” you answer sarcastically, before walking right up to his face. “Looks like you didn’t go blind either. So, you wanna tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?”

He sighs before entering his apartment, leaving it open for you to let yourself in, “I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“I don’t have time for this bullshit, Mark. Just spit it out already.”

“If you don’t have any time,” Mark turns to you with his arms crossed. “Then go back and run to your _boyfriend_. I didn’t ask you to come here.”

Hearing those words come from his mouth render you speechless. A part of you is angry and wants to yell at him from the top of your lungs, while the other half feels like your whole world has fallen to pieces. You let the latter feeling win, looking at your shoes as his words sink in. “I just— I don’t know what I did wrong, Mark.”

“I’m sorry,” Mark sighs, making a move to walk towards you for a hug but he stops himself. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the problem.”

“You’re not a problem,” you approach him but he takes a step back and you stop. “Is this because you have feelings for me?”

Mark’s eyes widen in shock. Of course it’s because he has feelings for you. But you’re not supposed to know this so he remains standing and frozen in place trying to think of how he let it slip, until you speak. “Jinyoung told me.”

“Well, he’s wrong,” Mark states, his defense mechanism kicking in. “I don’t have feelings for you—”

“Well, I have feelings for you,” you interrupt him determinedly, before realising the impact of your words. “_Had_ feelings for you. I don’t know.”

“Wh— What?” Mark stammers. “Since when? You’re with Jinyoung.”

“For the longest time. I went out with Jinyoung because _you_ told me to. Instead of telling me you have feelings for me and us being together, you pushed me to someone else. And I don’t understand it.”

You stare at each other for the longest time, trying to decide what to do. “What happens now?’ You ask.

Mark approaches and you don’t stop him this time. He brings you in for a hug, holding tightly, like he is afraid that you are going to disappear — and technically, you are. You hold him back, bringing him as close to you as possible, burying your face in his neck. You inhale his scent, knowing this may be the last time you get to do so, in a long time.

He takes a deep breath, before leaving tender kisses in your hair. “I pushed you to Jinyoung, because I knew you felt something for him,” you tense at his words but he only hugs you tighter. “I could see it in your eyes. You may have feelings for me, but the way you look at him is different. You look… _happy_.”

You pull away a bit to protest but he places his finger against your lip to hush you. “Don’t deny it. It’s true. And as much as I wanted to be with you, as much as I wanted to be selfish and keep you to myself, I just couldn’t do it. Your happiness is the most important thing to me. You are happy with him, right?”

“I am,” you say as tears threaten to come out. There’s no point in denying it, Mark would see right through you.

“Then what happens now,” Mark smiles sadly. “Is you go back to Jinyoung. Go and be happy with him.”

“What about you?” You cry, no longer able to hold it back. “I need you in my life. I can’t lose you.”

Mark cries now too, rubbing your tears away with his thumbs. “I just need some time. Time to accept this reality. But, I would never fully leave you. Not a chance in hell. You are stuck with me forever.”

“Good, because you know that I won’t let you go,’” you say as you wipe his tears this time. “You’ll come back to me once you get rid of your feelings, right?”

“My feelings for you will never go away,” Mark sighs before kissing your temple. “But, I will keep them at bay for your sake. Like I said, I would never get in the way of your happiness. I will come back once it hurts a little less.”

“And what if my feelings for you don’t go away?”

“That’s a conversation you need to have with Jinyoung first, before me.” Mark answers carefully. “And only after you’ve given it your all and nothing less.”

You cried to each other for a bit longer before you said your farewells. It was hard to let Mark go but deep down you knew he was right. You just hope you weren’t too late.

* * *

“You came back?” Jinyoung asks in surprise. Under normal circumstances you would be upset at his reaction, but this isn’t one of those.

“Can I come in?” You ask quietly and Jinyoung makes room for you. He closes the door after you but lingers there.

“Did you speak to him?”

“I did.”

“And did he confirm that he has feelings for you?”

“He did.”

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“I do,” you reply and watch Jinyoung’s world shatter in front of your eyes. You don’t know if you can fix this but you have to try. “But, it’s not as strong as it was before. Not since _us_.”

Jinyoung shakes his head and you know that you have to try harder to get him to believe you. “The reason that I’m upset and that I needed to talk to him is because he’s my best friend, not because of my feelings. I have pushed that aside a long time ago. I just don’t want to lose him altogether.”

“And what does he think about this?” Jinyoung scoffs. “Is he going to try and take you from me?”

“No,” you answer horrified. “The complete opposite. He asked me to choose you.”

“He did?” Jinyoung asks in disbelief and you nod. “Why?”

“He can see that I am happier with you. He doesn’t want to get in the way of that.”

“And what do you want?”

You take a deep breath before walking up to him and grasping his hands in yours. You are thankful he doesn’t pull away. “I’m sorry about this whole situation. I’m sorry that I have hurt you. But if you would let me, _I want to be with you_. My feelings for you have always been real. I would like for you to give me a chance to prove that. I would like you to give us a chance to keep moving forward.”

Jinyoung looks at your joint hands before looking back into your eyes that only speak the truth. He wants to believe you but he is sceptical, because if he was in Mark’s position, he would not be so selfless. He knew he would fight for you no matter what.

“What happens to Mark?”

“He is taking time for himself,” you smile sadly. “That’s why he’s been avoiding me. He just needs to deal with his feelings. He respects my decision. He won’t be in the way, I promise.”

Jinyoung pulls you into his embrace and you hold him tighter. He feels like home. He feels like everything you have ever wanted and more. You know you’ve made the right decision. You just need him to know it too.

“I want to give us a shot,” Jinyoung murmurs into your hair. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“You don’t have to,” you assure him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Jinyoung believes you. Even if it’s just for today.


End file.
